BRADSELL’S victory in the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot was the highlight of another memorable year at Saxon Gate.
Victorious Racing’s star sprinter supplemented his previous year’s success in the Group 2 Coventry Stakes with a stunning top-level success in the hands of Hollie Doyle.
His triumph was part of a Royal Ascot treble with John Deer’s Saint Lawrence claiming the Wokingham Stakes on his first start for Archie and Rhythm N Hooves taking the Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes for the Cool Silk Partnership.
There was more to cheer about overseas as Middleham Park Racing’s remarkable Brave Emperor racked up no fewer than five stakes race wins including the Group 2 Premio Vittorio di Capua in Milan in the hands of Luke Morris. It was the 100th winner of a memorable year for the familiar sky blue silks.
At home, Archie’s two-year-olds performed well, too, with Action Point taking the Listed Rose Bowl Stakes at Newbury in July for Hollie and Army Ethos getting within a neck of River Tiber in the Coventry Stakes at the Royal Meeting.
Roman Mist produced another highlight when she began her season with a Listed win in the Conqueror Fillies’ Stakes at Goodwood on her stable debut before following up in a German Group 3 at Dresden in September for owner David Howden & Partners.
In all, Archie saddled 104 winners in 2023 – 96 of them on the Flat in Britain, three in Germany, two in France and one in Italy. In fact, it was the biggest annual haul of winners from Saxon Gate since 2019’s tally of 133. It was also a significant year for Archie’s wife Brodie Hampson, who was crowned Champion Lady Amateur for the second year in a row with 10 winners.
Meanwhile, Christmas began in style when Qatar Racing’s filly Out Of The Stars defied a penalty to take a five-furlong Wolverhampton novice for Josh Bryan on 16th December. A debut winner at Kempton Park, the daughter of Zoustar was racing for the first time since finishing unplaced in the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot.
The Liegeman – a full brother to Group 1-winning sprinter The Tin Man – scored a breakthrough win in a Lingfield Park nursery earlier in the month, again with Josh in the saddle.
There was also an encouraging return to action in an otherwise quiet month for one of our standardbearers Tempus, who was a close second in the Listed Hyde Stakes at Kempton for Kieran Shoemark, deputising for Hollie during her two-month stint in Japan.
By Simon Mapletoft
